On-site airborne pathogen detection for infection risk mitigation

Human-infecting pathogens that transmit through the air pose a significant threat to public health. In this study we summarize the recent advances in highly efficient pathogen-laden aerosol sampling approaches, bioanalytical sensing technologies, and the prospects for airborne pathogen exposure measurement and evidence-based transmission interventions. We also discuss open challenges facing general bioaerosols detection, such as handling complex aerosol samples, improving sensitivity for airborne pathogen quantification, and establishing a risk assessment system with high spatiotemporal resolution for mitigating airborne transmission risks. This review provides a multidisciplinary outlook for future opportunities to improve the on-site airborne pathogen detection techniques, thereby enhancing the preparedness for more on-site bioaerosols measurement scenarios, such as monitoring high-risk pathogens on airplanes, weaponized pathogen aerosols, influenza variants at the workplace, and pollutant correlated with sick building syndromes (G. Qiu, X. Zhang, A. J. deMello, M. Yao, J. Cao and J. Wang, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2023, Advance Article , external pagehttps://doi.org/10.1039/D3CS00417A).

Schematic illustration of on-site risk assessment of airborne pathogens, which includes an indirect approach of using modelling-based emission and exposure estimation with the basis of epidemiological data (left-hand side and the blue panel) and a direct approach of using pathogen-laden aerosol sampling and point-of-exposure measurement (right-hand side and the orange panel).

From a bioanalytical chemistry perspective, on-site airborne pathogen detection can be an effective non-pharmaceutic intervention (NPI) strategy, with on-site airborne pathogen detection and early-stage infection risk evaluation reducing the spread of disease and enabling life-saving decisions to be made.